•Results show that participants favored females in fields of surgeons and corporate setting jobs than males. They also showed preference for males in the army and correctional officers than females.

•This shows that there is a stereotype of males having masculine traits that are needed to perform physical jobs. Rosenkratz et. al. (1968) suggests how gender traits are viewed separately. Masculinity comes with traits such as rational, aggressive, efficient, and competitive which are some characteristics needed for a soldier or officer.

•An interesting finding was made, that females were preferred over males in corporate and medical jobs. This are careers that are based more on level of education and the ability to adapt in work environment.

•One major limitation in our study would be the applicants were not physically consistent. Another limitation would be the specificity of the questions; questions could be more clear in position within career field.

•Future research should examine in-group or same-gender preference which might provide explanation on one gender being more favored than the other in career attainment.

Browne, B. (1998). Gender Stereotyping in Advertising on Children’s Television in the 1990s:A Cross-National Analysis, The Journal of Advertising, 119-(1), 83-85.

Wiekens, C.J., & Stapel, D.A. (2010). Self-awareness and saliency of social versus individualistic behavioral standards, Social Psychology, 41-(1), 10-19.

Rosenkrantz, P., Vogel, S. R., Bee, H., Broverman, I. K., & Broverman, D. M. (1968). Sex role stereotypes and self-concepts in college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 32, 287-295

Our group was interested in determining whether there was an effect of gender on career attainment for a realm of different stereotyped careers.

This study consisted of a 2 (male x female) by 1 (perceived career attainment) between subjects factorial ANOVA, using experience with the task as a covariate, on the following variables:

•We conducted an independent sample t-test to determine whether a significant difference existed in terms of how male and female career attainment was perceived by participants.

•Four out of the fifteen questions had results that showed significance and agreed with our hypothesis:

Question 3: (How comfortable do you believe this person would be to serve the country as an army soldier?) showed that participants found the male applicant more likely to obtain a job in the military field.

Question 6: (If this person showed up for an interview in a corporate setting, the likelihood they would get the job is?) showed that women are more likely to be viewed in a corperate setting than men.

Question 12: (How comfortable would you feel if this person was to perform a high-risk surgery on a close relative?): showed participants believe women are more likely to perform high risk surgeries than men.

Question 13: (Could you see Alex as a correctional officer): showed that males are more likely than women to be hired as correctional officers, according to the participants.

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Effects of Gender and Career AttainmentMelissa Gittens, Olivia Balsinger, Devra Brown, Jocelyn Claudio, Nayab Rani

Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut

INTRODUCTION

METHOD

REFERENCES

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Participants

•15 undergraduates (5 male, 10 female), ages 19 through 22, enrolled in PSYC 2100WQ at the University of Connecticut (Storrs campus).

Materials

•Two photos taken from the internet of either a male or a female, each around 30 years of age, Caucasian, and professionally dressed.

•Identical resume for both male and female picture, highlighting education and work achievements

•Survey questions

Measures

•Survey: 15 questions asking participants to rate perceived likelihood of applicant success in varying careers and settings

•Likert scale: includes 7 ratings, (1 being very unlikely and 7 as very likely)

•Design: Using a between-subject design, participants were randomly assigned to one of the following groups:

• Group/Condition 1 – Photo of Female

• Group/Condition 2 – Photo of Male

This study examines the correlation between gender stereotypes and the likelihood of career success. We wanted to gage whether or not gender roles as defined by society, impact the likelihood of male and female achievement in particular job settings.

•As Browne (1998) has explained gender stereotypes are beliefs about sex linked traits, which are collections of psychological characteristics characterizing men and women, and gender roles, which are behaviors and activities that differentially are typical for men or women that is normally defined by society.

•Grimm et al. (2009) tested the interaction of stereotypes and task reward structure using the quantitative section of the general Graduate Record Examination (GRE). As predicted, they found that men preformed better in the quantitative section than women did.

Current Study:

We wanted to examine if gender influences the perceived likelihood of a male and female with the same resume to have and be successful at a job.

Hypotheses:

•We hypothesize that gender stereotypes will influence how participants will rate the success of career attainment for either male or female

•We predicted that participants would rate the male applicant as more likely to obtain “male stereotyped” jobs

•We predicted that participants would rate the female applicant as more likely to obtain “female stereotyped” jobs

Procedure

•Participants were unknowingly divided into two groups through a process of random selection.

•One group recieved a photo of a professionally dressed young man, while the other group recieved a photo of a professionally dressed young woman.

• Both groups were given an identical paragraph of the credentials reflecting past accomplishments and schooling of the applicant, regardless of the gender in the picture.

•After reading the resume and looking at the picture, each participant took about 15 minutes to complete a survey consisting of 15 questions. A few of the questions asked the participant the liklihood, judged on the Likert Scale from 1-7, of either the male or female having certain “gendered” careers.

Analyses

We calculated participants’ scores for each survey question according to condition. We then took the mean of both conditions and compared them to each other to look for significance. Photos used in survey, of male

and female applicant, respectively.

Key: Condition I (Female) Condition II (Male)